Re: Singling Out The Victims Of Terror, editorial, Nov. 13.What moral authority does the European Union have to undermine the Jews once again? Are six million in the previous century not enough to satisfy European appetites for destruction? Do they want to empower Islamists who have similar goals today to pull another Holocaust on Israel?

What Europe is doing is the same as tagging Jews with yellow stars, displaying Jews as oppressors and violators of international law, people who do not deserve to do business and commerce in the world. The Europeans (and the United Nations) would gladly punish Jews (and “Palestinians” in the process) for any reason, for propaganda, to hobble and destroy Israel. It is in Europe’s best interests because Israel is a strong country, a competitor and a leader in all kinds of 21st-century technologies and industries. Europeans disregard international law about the status of the West Bank and the history of Israel.

The refugees known as “Palestinians” live as equals in Israel; in Judea-Samaria and Gaza, they live under their own terrorist leaders. They are urged to kill Jews. “Palestinians” also benefit from Israeli production and employment, and they would do even better were their goals to become a peaceful neighbour, rather than another Islamic terror state(s).Gary Gerofsky, Dundas, Ont.

The European Union’s decision to label goods made in Israeli settlements is a racist and discriminatory policy that bears all the hallmarks of anti-Semitic, Holocaust-era practices where European Jews and their stores were branded with yellow stars. The EU doesn’t recognize a sovereign government in disputed areas like Tibet, the Western Sahara, Kashmir, Northern Cyprus and Crimea, to name just a few, but Israel is the only country being singled out for politically motivated opprobrium.

This fatally flawed proposition will not only hurt goods produced in Israel, but will imperil the jobs of more than 30,000 Palestinians who are gainfully employed and have work insurance in the settlements. This ploy of scapegoating Israel via the settlements is untenable and serves only to stigmatize Israel and demonize the Jewish state.Mike Fegelman, Toronto.

Your otherwise excellent editorial misses two very important points. By labelling goods made beyond the Green Line, the EU tells the world where it believes the borders of Israel and any future state of Palestine should be. This contravenes agreements the EU itself helped put into place, calling for those borders to be negotiated. It also sends a message to the Palestinians no negotiations are necessary, that the EU will recognize Palestine on the borders Palestine itself chooses.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly called on Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to meet any time, anywhere to begin negotiations without any preconditions. Considering the EU’s stance, is it any wonder Abbas continues to ignore him?Stephen Tannenbaum, Thornhill, Ont.

The only way you can deal with the likes of the EU boycotters of Israel is to play their game, but in an over-the-top manner that makes everyone laugh at them and increases your market segment. All products originating from Israeli settlements should be packaged with a large Nazi-originated star of David, and the words “Juden” and “verboten” clearly on the labels, with attribution to the EU.David Blair, Toronto.

Legion gets it right

Re: No Place For Real Veterans, Robert Smol, Nov. 13.Like Robert Smol, I served almost two decades in the Canadian Armed Forces. Aside from two short call-outs with the regular force, most of my service was part-time with the Reserves. Like him, I am not a member of the Royal Canadian Legion. My reasons for not joining are varied, but they do not include a lack of admiration for the work the Legion has done and is doing for veterans.

The fact many of the leadership roles in the Legion are filled by civilians does not bother me. They represent an important connection between those who have served and those who have not, which is of critical importance to any lobbying effort. I also greatly admire the efforts the Legion is making to connect with the”modern” veterans. Compared with many new veterans’ groups, it is a professional organization with the right intentions and a well-documented history of getting things done for veterans. Right now, I am filling out my application to join the Royal Canadian Legion and I would encourage Smol to do the same.Curt Shalapata, Oshawa, Ont.

Keeping tabs

Re: KXL Decision No Surprise, letter to the editor, Nov. 12; Montreal Mess, letter to the editor; Liberals Accused Of Reneging, both, Nov. 13.Let’s recap: the new Trudeau government has had the critical Keystone XL pipeline cancelled by its supposed ally in the White House, authorized millions of litres of raw sewage to be dumped in the St. Lawrence River, and now has been caught reneging on one of their sacred campaign promises concerning Syrian refugees. This was week one.Marty Burke, Guelph, Ont.

Work for peace

Re: Thoughts Of Remembrance Day, letters to the editor, Nov. 13.I spent my Remembrance Day morning with our mosque’s church neighbours. The thought arose in my mind, that while we remember the fallen, we should all strive in our spheres of influence to ensure such wide-scale loss of life does not occur again. Indeed, everyone has a sphere of influence which they can work to increase. Remembrance Day is a reminder of the greatest need of our time: global peace. May we witness this in our lifetimes.Muneer Ahmad Khan, Ottawa.

Police have clout

Re: Why Is It So Hard To Fire Bad Police Officers?, Nov. 13.Maybe the answer to this question lies in an exceptionally powerful police lobby. British Columbia provides a case in point. Despite the province’s otherwise polarized politics, the governing B.C. Liberals and opposition New Democratic Party agree wholeheartedly on all issues of police accountability.

As a result we have two agencies — the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s Commission for Public Complaints — that give every impression of serving and protecting police. The more recently created Independent Investigations Office (IIO) has made mistakes, ranging from missteps to serious bungling, but almost all criticism reported by the media has come from police interests.

Yet the IIO was legislated to fall far short of its supposed model, Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit. Short of no accountability at all, it seemed that police got everything they wanted with the IIO’s creation. But they are still not satisfied, judging by the continuing campaign of cop-driven criticism.Greg Klein, Nanaimo, B.C.